Nike Wants Your Mad Football Skills for a Pop-up Tournament

Local Sydney footballers should start ringing around for their best Ronaldos; Nike is calling for teams of four to compete in a pop-up tournament through May. In temporary hubs set up throughout Sydney, Nike is harnessing the simmering World Cup buzz with a free football tournament dubbed Nike ‘Winner Stays’ Sydney, complete with live music and the chance to nab a spot in the final at Australian Technology Park in May.

It's set up as a four-on-four throwdown and teams can register to take on fellow soccer-crazy Sydneysiders in various pop-up locations around Sydney. The Nike-sponsored tournament is open to all team types — mixed, female or male — and players just have to be 16 years and up to play. Players will have to front their mad skills at the Winners Stays qualifiers, to be staged around the city from May 2–17. You’ll be able to try out new Nike boots and make your own digital team badge, however Arsenaly/Hogwartsy a design you see fit.

Based on your classic playground format, the matches will see a winner-stays setup wherein two teams of four battle it out until one team scores. If you let a goal in, your team loses a player, then next to score wins the game. The victors then roam around the field and take on the next team, and the bloodbath continues on a bunch of other courts. From the three qualifying tournaments — held in Ultimo, Homebush West and Caringbah (Central, West and South) — seven teams each will be picked to play at the final on May 24 at Australian Technology Park.

This isn’t the first time Nike have erected a pop-up event in Sydney. The sneaker heavyweights collaborated with Boffswana, The Locals and Razor/US to create Nike’s first pop up store, Nine+, in Sydney for two weeks during the 2012 London Olympics. The store featured touch screen window displays and video installations throughout the space, again channeling the buzz of a globally watched event.

Qualifiers:

Central: May 2 – Ultimo Commuity Centre Rooftop @ 5pm

Western: May 11 – Paddy’s Market, Homebush West @ 2pm

Southern: May 17 – 5 Football Centre, Caringbah @ 5pm

Registration is now open here throughout April.